Manure-spreader.



A. C. LINDGREN & W. J. COOK.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15.1912.

1,117,870, Patented N0v.17.1914.

nventors:

67 4 Atty).

YHE ucRra/s PETERS c0 PHoT0-| !T ASHINGTON. D. c.

A. G. LINDGREN & W. J. COOK.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,1912.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

7 SHEETSSHEET 2 Inventors wax W W flw /wgmttys m1 NuRR/s PETERS 60..PHOTO'LJTHO. WASHINGTON, p z" A. G. LINDGREN & W. J. COOK.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,1912.

THE NORRm FLITERS C0,. PHQTOLITHOU WASHINGTU Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

7 SHEETSSHBET 3.

Nut

7 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

ifllnventors Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

Vnu W MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15, 1912.

A. O. LINDGREN & W. J. COOK.

A. C. LINDGREN 6: W. J. COOK.

MANUHE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,1912.

1,1 1 7,870, Patented Nov. 17. 1914.

7 HEETSSHEET 5,

A. G. LINDGREN & W. J. COOK.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED APR.15,191Z

1,1 1 "L876, Patented Nov. 1?, 1914.

7 SHEETS "SHEET 6.

i gzw f gl A. G. LINDGREN & W. J. 000K.

MANURB SPREADER APPLICATION FILED APR.15.1912.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

7 SHEETS-SHEET 7.

In V611 tors:

iThl STATES FATE OFFIOE.

ALEXUS C. LIN'IDGREN AND WILLARD J. COOK, OF MOLINE, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNORSTO MOLINE PLOVT COMPANY. A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

MANURE-SPREADER.

Application filed April 15, 1912.

To altar/10m it may concern Be it known that we, ALnXUs C. LINDGREN andlViLLARD J. Coon, citizens of the United States, both residing atMoline, in the county of Rock Island and State of Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Manure{Spreaders ofwhich the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to manure spreadcrs of the type in which thematerial is carried in a wagon and supported on a feeding apron mountedin the bottom of the wagon body and acting as the machine travels overthe field, to move rearwardly and present the rear portion of the massof material to the action of a spreading or distributing mechanism,commonly in the form of a toothed cylinder rotating at high speed, theaction of which cylinder is to detach portions of the material from themass and spread the same over the surface of the ground, the feedingapron, after the load has been discharged, being returned to the frontof the wagon body ready to receive another load.

In machines of this general type, it is common to provide mechanism forautomatically arresting the feeding motion of the apron when all of theload has been distributed. and to provide mechanism for returning theapron to the front of the machine automatically after its advance isarrested, these mechanisms, as well as the mechanism for driving thespreader cylinder, being operated from the ground wheels, and beingcontrolled in their operations by a manually-operated lever within reachof the driver.

In certain forms of machines of this de' scription, themanually-operated lever is fixed to a transverse rock shaft at the frontof the machine, connected to the spreadercylinder driving mechanismthrough the medium of a main clutch, and to the apronfeeding andreturning mechanisms in such manner that when the shaft is rocked in onedirection, the spreader-cylinder drivingmechanism and the apronadvancing mechaism will be thrown into action, and on the rocking of theshaft in the other direction, these mechanisms will be thrown out ofaction. The lever controlling these operations is acted onvby a spring,so arranged that Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 17, 1914.

Serial No. 690,745.

when the lever is pulled up to connect the said mechanisms, the springwill be placed under tension and a latch Will be actuated to hold thelever up, the automatic tripping of the latch by the rearward movementof the apron at the moment when the load has all been delivered,operating to release the lever and allowing the same to be automaticallythrown down by the spring, such spring-actuation of the lever, operatingto not only disconnect the apron-feeding mechanism, but also todisconnect the spreadercylinder mechanism.

In the practical use of machines of the above description it has beenfound, that, by reason of the very considerable amount of work imposedon the spring in disconnecting the apron feed and the spreadercylinderdriving-mechanism, a spring of undue and unwieldly strength is required;and it is found that this spring will frequently fail to perform itsfunction in promptly disconnecting the mechanisms.

Our present invention is designed to overcome these objectionablefeatures as well as to provide for the certain and reliable operation ofthe clutch controlling the spreader-cylinder mechanism; and theinvention consists in combining with manually-operated means forcontrolling the spreadercylinder driving-mechanism, a spring-actuatedmeans operating independently of the manual means, and acting to controlthe apron-driving mechanism.

Our invention consists also in so connecting the manually-operatedcontrolling means with the apron-driving controlling means, that whenthe manually-operated means is actuated in one direction, it will throwthe spreader-cylinder mechanism and the apron-driving mechanism intoaction, but the apron-feeding mechanism will be permitted to be thrownout of action without disturbing the spreader cylinder mechanism.

The invention consists also in an improved form of clutch operatingmechanism designed to effect a positive and certain movement of theclutch member without liability of the parts being accidentallydisplaced after once being set.

The invention consists also in the details of construction andcombination of parts hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a side elevation of a manurespreader embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a similar view from theopposite side of the machine. Fig. 8 is a top plan view of the machinewith portions broken away to expose other parts. Fig. 3 is a fragmentaryview showing particularly the form of the operating mechanism for theclutch con trolling the spreader mechanism, the clutch being showndisconnected. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the machine. Fig. 5 is anened transverse sectional plan view on the line 5-5 of Fig. #1.. Fig. 6is an enlarged longitudinal sectional elevation on the line 66 of Figs.l and 5. Fig. 7 is a front elevation on an enlarged scale and with partsbroken anay, of the manually-operated controlling lever and the partsimmediately associated therewith. Fig. 8 is a side elevation showing theform of spreader-cylinder driving-mechanism and the devices forcontrolling the same.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a wagon body sustained by groundWheels 2, .mounted on a rotary axle 3, a pawl and ratchet connectionbeing provided between the wheels and axle to cause the axle to revolvewith the wheels in their forward travel, but to permit the wheels toturn back without affecting the axle. Arranged in the bottom of the bodyis a flexible feeding apron l, mounted to slide back and forth, thefront end of the apron being provided with an upright front board 5, andthe rear end of the apron being adapted as the front board 5 moves tothe rear, to advance toward the front on the under side of the body.The-apron in its slow rearward feeding movement, carries the mass'ofmaterial supported thereon, rearwardly and presents its rear portion tothe action of a spreader cylinder 6, driven at high speed at the rearend "of the wagon body, the said cylinder acting to detach portions ofthe mass and spread the same over the surface of the ground, a pendentswinging rake 7 being sustained in advance of the spreader cylinder andserving to prevent the passage of unduly large lumps to the cylinder andthereby clog the action of the same.

The feeding and return movements of the apron are effected by means of acentrally arranged fore and aft extending endless sprocket chain 8,passing around a vertical sprocket wheel 9, on the inner end of atransverse horizontal shaft 10 at the front of the machine, and around asimilar sprocket wheel 11 on the inner end of a horizontal transverseshaft 12 at the rear of the machine, this latter shaft acting to movethe apron in its feeding direction, and the other shaft acting to returnthe empty apron to the front of the machine. The shaft 12 is provided onits outer end with a worm wheel 13, engaged by a worm 14. on

the rear end of a worm shaft 15, which extends forwardly at the outerside of the body and has its forward end mounted in a housing pivotallysupported on a horizontal transverse shaft 16, mounted in hearings inthe wagon body. The shaft 16 is provided at its ends with a spur pinion17, engaged by a spur pinion 19 on the axle 3, whereby the forwardmotion of the ground wheels will rotate the shaft 16. The worm s iaft 15is provided with a bevel gear 21, meshing with gear teeth on the face ofthe ainion 17, by which means a rotary motion will be imparted to theworm shaft from the ground wheels, and will be transmitted to shaft 12in a direction to drive chain 8 so as to move the apron in its feeding;direction rearwardly. By the pivotal support of the rear end of the wormshaft as described, is adapted to be moved up and down relative to theworm wheel, so that the latter may be engaged or disengaged by the wormshaft in order to control the apron feeding action. The movement of theworm shaft up and down is effected by means of a rocking segment plate22 (Fig. 1), which is pivoted to the side of the body and provided withan eccentric cam slot engaging a pin on a vertically movable hangersurrounding the worm shaft, the rocking of the plate on its pivotserving to raise and lower the shaft. The plate has connected with it arod 23, whose forward end is jointed to a crank 2%, on one end of atransverse horizontal rock shaft 25, mounted in bearings at the front ofthe machine, the rocking of the shaft a quarter turn in a forwarddirection shifting the seg ment plate forwardly and lifting the wormfrom the worm wheel, and the rocking of the shaft in the oppositedirection lowering the worm into engagement with the worm wheel, bywhich action the apron feeding mechanism will be respectivelydisconnected and connected. As will be presently de'-, scribed, theoperation of the rock shaft 25 is edected in one direction manually toconnect the apron feeding mechanism, and is effected in the oppositedirection to disconnect the apron feeding mechanism, by spring powerinitiated automatically when the apron arrives at the limit of itsfeeding movement in discharging the load.

The shaft 10 before alluded to, at the front of the machine, forreturning the empty apron, is driven by a longitudinally extending shaft26, mounted in bearings in the under side of the body, which shaft isdr1ven from the axle by means of a bevel pinion 2S thereon, meshing witha, bevel.

shaft 10 so that the pinion 3l .may be en gaged with pinion 30 whenshaft 10 is to be rotated to effect the return of the apron, and may bedisengaged from pinion 30 to permit shaft 10 to rotate idly in thefeeding movement of the apron, these movements of pinion 31 beingeffected by a vertical laterally acting shifter bar 32, provided with afork 32*, engaging in a groove in the hub of pinion 31, as will be morefully described hereinafter. Pinion 31 is acted on by a spiral spring33, encircling shaft 10 and hearing at one end against a collar 3%,fixed to the shaft, and at its opposite end against the face of thepinion, the tendency of the spring being to shift pinion 31 out of mesh*ith pinion 30. When the gears are in mesh, with the apron-returningmechanism in operation, they are held engaged with each other againstthe action of the spring, but on being released, which is effectedautomatically by the forward movement of the empty apron, as will bepresently described, spring 33 will act to shift pinion 31 anddisconnect shaft 26 from shaft 10, and the empty apron will come to restin position ready to receive another load.

The spreader cylinder 6 before alluded to, is driven by means ofasprocket chain 35 passing over a sprocket wheel 36, geared to thecylinder, and over a large sprocket 37, running loosely and slidablelaterally on the axle 3, the hub of said wheel being provided in itsouter side with clutch teeth 38, adapted to be engaged with clutch teethon the hub of one of the ground wheels 2, the arrangement being suchthat sprocket wheel 37 may be shifted outwardly to engage the clutchteeth on the ground wheel, or it may be shifted in the oppositedirection to disengage said teeth. When the clutch teeth are engaged,the motion of the ground wheels will be imparted to the spreadercylinder and it will be rotated with its inner side moving upwardly, andwhen the clutch teeth are disengaged, the spreader cylinder will remainat rest. In order that the sliding member of the clutch, that is thesprocket wheel 37, may be operated conveniently and with certainty, andin order that when shifted to either position, it will be held withoutrisk of accidental displacement. lVe have designed an improvedclutch-operating mechanism which constitutes one of the features of ourinvention. This mechanism comprises a longitudinally extendinghorizontal bar 39, pivoted at its front end on a vertical axis 40, tothe under side of the wagon body, and having at its rear end avertically arranged fork 41, engaging in a peripheral groove in the hubof the shiftable sprocket wheel. Mounted on this bar is a sliding blocka2, having pivoted to it on a vertical axis, the outer end of ahorizontal link 43, extending transversely toward the center of the bodywhere its inner end is pivoted to the body on a vertical axis,

as at 44, the construction being such that when the sliding block isdrawn forwardly from the position shown in Fig. 3"-, it will swing thebar outwardly and connect the clutch, and when the block is moved back,it will swing the bar inwardly and disconnect the clutch, thesemovements of the bar being thus transverse to the movement of the blockand being due to the movements of the block about a center coincidentwith the pivotal axis of the link. As a result, the lateral or swingingmovements of the bar will be effected with ease and certainty, and thesliding member of the clutch being once positioned, any force exerted onit at the axle and tending to displace it, will be exerted in adirection endwise of the link and. will, therefore, have no tendency toswing the link.

The sliding block a2 is operated to control the clutch by means of amanually-operated lever 50, provided. with a laterally extending tubularsleeve 51, loosely encircling the rock shaft "25, a crank arm 52 beingfixed to the end of the sleeve and being connected to the sliding blockby means of a rod 53, jointed at its froward end to the crank arm, andjointed at its rear end to the block. hen the lever 50 is in a verticalposition, as shown in Fig. 2, the crank arm 52 will extend downwardlyvertically, and the clutch-operating bar 39 will be in its outerposition with the clutch engaged, as shown in Fig. 3. When, however, thehand lever is thrown forwardly and downwardly to a horizontal position,as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, the clutch-operating lever willbe swung to its inner position and the clutch will be disengaged, asshown in Fig. 3a, the lever being adapted to be locked in either ofthese positions by means of a locking dog 5%, carried by the lever andadapted to engage in either of two notches 55 and 56 in a segmentfrai'ne 57, fixed to the wagonllO body at the side of the lever.

The hand lever 50 is adapted to cooperate with the rock shaft 25 and theparts oper ated thereby, in such manner that the operation of the leverin one direction will 11 actuate the rock shaft and will connect theapron-feeding mechanism and spreader cylinder clutch. The rock shaftwill be capable, nevertheless, of a movement independently of the handlever, to disconnect the V120 apron-feeding mechanism without affectingthe clutch. To effect these operations the sleeve 51 is provided on itsend at the side of the lever opposite the crank arm, with a number ofclutch teeth 58, which are adapt- 125 ed to cooperate with correspondingteeth on the end of a collar 60, which encircles the shaft and isslidingly connected thereto by means of a pin 61 on the shaft, engaginga longitudinal slot 62 in the collar, a spring 1 disturbing the positionof the lever.

'63 .encircling'the shaft and bearing at one sleeve of the lever, asshown in Fig. 7. The

coiiperating teeth on the collar and sleeve are formed with inclinedsurfaces and with abrupt or straight faces, and are so related that whenthe hand lever 50 is pulled rearwardly, the. abrupt faces ofthe'cooperating teeth'will'engage each other, and by reason of thesliding connection of the collar with the shaft, the latter will berotated with the lever. The cotiperating teeth thus arranged, form inefl ect a connection between the shaft and the lever, which connectionis adapted to be operated to release the shaft, in order to permit thelatter to-be rocked without The rocking ofthe shaft thus independentlyof the lever is effected by means of a spring 65 connected at its upperend with an arm 66 on the shaft, and connected at its lower endwith theframe of the machine, the said spring being adapted when the shaft isrocked rearwardly, to be placed under tension, so that on .tliereleaseof the shaft the spring will instantly rock the shaft in the oppositedirection. It will be remembered that this forward rocking of the shaftacts, through the medium of the crank arm 24%. on the end thereof, tolift the worm shaft at the rear of the machine and disconnect theapron-feeding mechanism, this action of the shaft being initiatedautomatically, by the rear end of the apron when the latter arrives atthe limit of its feeding movement, and all the load has been discharged.In order that the rock shaft may be released fromthe handlever 50 topermit the spring actuation'of the shaft as described, and in order thatthe releasing means may be controlled automatically by the movement ofthe apron, the toothed ends of the sleeve and collar are looselyencircled by a bushing 67, as shown more particularly in Fig. 7, one endof which is adapted to engage an annular shoulder just back of the-teethon the sleeve, while the other end is provided with an inclined orcammed face 68, adapt ed in the movements of the bushing, to cooperatewith a similarly formed face 69 on the collar, the relation of theseparts being such that when the bushing is rotated in the directionindicated by the arrow in Fig. 7, these cam faces coming into actionwill cause the collar to be shifted longitudinally on the shaft untilthe teeth thereon are disengaged .fromthose on the sleeve, thisactionreleasing the shaft from the lever and permitting the spring toact on the shaft and rock the same forwardly and downwardly, as beforementioned. The bushing ;-i s provided-with a depending arm .70, :hav-

ing connected-with it the forward end 'o'f'a rod v71, whose rear end isjointed to the upper end of an arm 72, fixed at its lowerend to ahorizontal transverse rock shaft 73, mounted inbearings on the wagonbody, to which shaft is connected a depending arm 7%, extending in thepath of movement of the forward end of the apron, as this end travelsforwardly in the feeding motion of the apron. The relation of the partsis such that by the time the apron has-completed its full feedingmovement and all the material has been distributed, the rear end of theapron traveling forwardly will encounter the arm 74, and moving said armforwardly, the shaft will be rocked rearwardly,-which through the mediumof the connecting rod 71, will rotate the bushing in the direction-ofthearrow in Fig. 7, this action shifting the toothed collar-endwise, andfreeing the shaft connected with said collar from the locked lever 50.Immediately on the release of the shaft, the spring 65 will rock thesame in a forward and downward direction, and this action will, throughthe medium of crank 24 and the connections therefrom to the worm shaft,lift the worm from the worm wheel and dis connect the apron feedingmechanism.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the only work thatspring 65 has imposed upon it, is the disconnection of the apron-feedingmechanism, the disconnection of the main or spreader clutch beingeffected manually and positively by the forward throw of the lever 50while the apron-feeding mechanism is disconnected. Therefore, it willnot be necessary to employ a spring of undue strength, with the resultthat correspondingly less effort will be required to place the sameunder tension. Further, it will be seen that on the automatic release ofthe shaft by the apron, the spring-actuation of the shaft indisconnecting the apron-feeding mechanism is effected independently ofthe hand lever, it being necessary in order to again connecttheapron-feeding mechanism, to Ifirst throw the hand lever downwardlyand then pull it back and lock it in vertical position.

The connection of the apron-returning mechanism is effected at themoment that the apron-feeding mechanism is thrown out of gear, and bythe lateral movements of the shifter bar 32 before alluded to. Thelateral movement of this member is effected by means of an arm 7 5 whichis fixed to the rock shaft 25 and is provided in its end with a notch,embracing the shifter member 32, the latter being provided with a camsurface 7 6, with which the sides of the notch cooperate in such mannerthat when the shaft is rocked downwardly by the spring, the shiftermember will be moved bysthe arm .75Jlaterally to the right,-in Fig."

4:, thereby shifting bevel gear 31 into mesh with bevel gear 30, thesegears being held in engagement by the engagement of the shifter memberin the notch in the arm 75. With the gears engaged, the empty apron willbe moved forwardly, and in order that when the same arrives at itsforward normal position the returning mechanism may be thrown out ofgear we provide a tripping device consisting of an angular lever 77,which is mounted loosely on the shaft 25 adjacent the arm 75, and isprovided with a long depending arm 78, and a short forwardly extendingfinger 7 9, the arm being extended in the path of the front board of theapron, so that when the latter reaches itsforward position, it willencounter the arm, and rocking the same on shaft 25, the finger will bemoved upwardly and for wardly and will engage behind the shifter memberand positively disengage the same from the notch in the arm 75, the saidshifter member being so mounted that it may, in addition to its lateralswinging movement, also be moved forwardly. On the disengagement of theshifter member from the notch in the arm, the spring 33 will shift bevelgear 31 out of mesh with bevel gear 30, and the empty apron will come torest ready to receive another load of material.

In the operation of the mechanism, the body being loaded and the variousoperative mechanisms being disconnected, with the hand lever 50 in itsforward horizontal position, the main clutch disconnected and the wormlifted from engagement with the worm wheel, and finally, the spring 65relaXed, the driver drives to the locality where the material is to bedistributed, and to throw the machine into action he pulls lever 50rearwardly to a vertical position and looks it there by means of thelocking latch. This action, due to the engagement of the clutch teeth onthe lever and on the collar, and due to the connection of the collarwith shaft 25, will rock the shaft a quarter turn rearwardly, therebyplacing the spring 65 under tension and at the same time shifting theclutch operating bar 39 outwardly, with the result that theapron-feeding mechanism will be thrown into action and the spreadercylinder will be rotated. Simultaneously with this action, the worm islowered into engagement with the worm wheel, and the apron starts itsfeeding movement. The distribution of the material now proceeds, and bythe time the entire load has been distributed, the rear end of the apronin traveling forwardly, will rock arm 7e, thereby rocking bushing 67,and collar 60 being shifted on the shaft endwise, its teeth will bedisengaged from those on the hand lever, and the shaft being released,spring 65 Wlll instantly turn the same forwardly and downwardly aquarter turn, the hand lever in the meantime remaining in its verticalposition with the main clutch connected, and the spreader operating. Bythe movement of the rock shaft under the influence of the spring, theworm is lifted from engagement with the worm wheel, and theapron-feeding mechanism is disconnected. Simultaneously with thisaction, arm 75 on the rock shaft will shift the shifter member 32laterally and engage bevel pinion 31 with bevel pinion 30, therebythrowing into action the apron-returning mechanism. The empty apron willnow return to the front of the machine and at the completion of itsforward motion the front board will encounter the rocker device, andactuating the same, the shifter member will be released from the arm 75automatically, and spring 33 will shift pinion 31 out of engagement withpinion 30, and the apron will come to rest. The operator now unlockslever 50 and throws the same forward, thereby arresting the motion ofthe spreader and the machine is now ready to receive another load.

If for any reason the driver wishes to manually disconnect the spreadercylinder mechanism and the apron-feeding mechanism, before the aproncompletes its feed this he may do by unlocking lever 50 and allowing thespring 65 to shift the shaft and lever forwardly.

While we have in the foregoing description and accompanying drawings,disclosed a certain detailed form of mechanism for driving the spreadercylinder: for feeding the apron; for returning the empty apron andautomatically arresting its return movement; it will be understood thatthese mechanisms in themselves form no part of the present invention,and, therefore, they may be variously modified and changed, providedthat they will cooperate with our improved mechanism in effecting theopera tions described. In other words, our invention is concerned withthe manually-operated lever and its cooperative relation to thespring-actuated controlling devices, and therefore our invention isapplicable to any form of apron drive or apron-returning mechanism,provided that they may be controlled by our improved mechanism in then'ianner described.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

1. In a manure spreader, the combination of a spreader, a drivingmechanism therefor adapted to be thrown into and out of gear, atraveling apron, a feeding mechanism therefor adapted to be thrown intoand out of gear, a rock shaft, controlling means for the apron-feedingmechanism permanently connected with the rock shaft to be posi tivelyactuated thereby in throwing the apron driving mechanism out of gear, amanually-operated lever adapted to be moved independently of the rockshaft to throw out the spreader gear, and means for connecting the leverwith the shaft to enable both driving mechanisms to be thrown into geartogether.

2. In a manure spreader, the combination of a spreader, a drivingmechanism therefor adapted to be thrown into and out of gear, atravelingapron, a feeding mechanism therefor adapted to be thrown into and out ofgear, a rock shaft, controlling means for the apron-feeding mechanismpermanently connected with the rock shaft to be positively operatedthereby to throw the apron driving mechanism out of gear, a.manually-operated lever for controlling the spreader driving-mechanism,said lever being adapted to be operated in one direction independentlyof the shaft to throw the spreader driving mechanism out of gear, andconnecting means between the shaft and lever adapted when the lever isoperated in the other direction to rock the shaft and throw bothmechanisms into gear.

3. In a manure spreader, the combination of a spreader, a drivingmechanism therefor, a controlling means for the spreaderdriving-mechanism, a traveling apron, a feeding mechanism therefor, acontrolling means for the same, a power-actuated shaft connected withthe controlling means for the apron-feeding mechanism to actuate thesame, a releasable connection between the shaft and controlling meansfor the spreader driving-mechanism, and means operated automatically bythe apron to release said connection to permit the shaft to be operatedby the power and independently of the lever.

4. In a manure spreader, the combination of a spreader, a drivingmechanism therefor, a lever controlling said driving mechanism, atraveling apron, a feeding mechanism therefor, means for controllingsaid feeding mechanism. a power-actuated rock shaft connected with saidlatter controlling means, a connection between the shaft and the leverto permit said parts to be operated together, and means controlled bythe apron for disconnecting the shaft from the lever to permitindependent power-actuation of the shaft.

5. In a manure spreader, the combination of a spreader, a drivingmechanism therefor, a traveling apron, a feeding mechanism for the same,a controlling means for the apronfeeding mechanism, a rock shaftconnected with said controlling means, a hand lever mounted loosely onthe rock shaft and adapted to control the spreader driving mechanism,clutch teeth on the lever, a collar rotatable with the shaft and movablelongitudinally thereof, and provided with clutch teeth cooperating withthose on the lever, a spring acting to hold the teeth interlocked, aspring acting on the shaft and adapted to be placed under tension whenthe shaft is moved in one direction, means for locking the lever inposition to hold the shaft with the spring tension, and arocking memberadapted to shift the collar longitudinally to disengage its teeth fromthose I on the shaft, whereby on the disconnection of the teeth, thespring will rock the shaft independently of the lever and actuate thecontrolling means for the apron-feeding mechanism.

6. In a manure spreader the combination of a spreader device, atraveling feeding apron, a power shaft adapted to throw the apron feedout of gear, a manually operated lever movable relatively to the powershaft and adapted to throw the spreader device out of gear, andcooperating connections be tween the lever and shaft formed to effect amanual operation of the shaft to throw the apron feed and the spreaderdevice into gear, and permitting the shaft to be poweroperatedrelatively to said lever to throw the apron feed out of gear.

7. In a manure spreader the combination of a spreader device, drivingmechanism therefor, controlling means for said mechanism, a manuallyoperated device adapted to actuate said controlling means to throw thespreader device out of action, a traveling apron, driving mechanismtherefor, controlling means for said driving mechanism,

a rock shaft actuated in one direction by power and acting when sooperated to actuate the apron-driving controlling means and throw theapron out of action, and acting when operated in the other direction toactuate the said controlling means to throw the apron into action, thesaid manually operated device being so connected with the rock shaftthat the rock shaft will be manucollar rotatable with the shaft, saidlever and collar being movable relatively to each other and beingprovided with interlocking teeth, a member engaging the collar and leverto move them relatively to disengage the teeth, and means for operatingsaid member; whereby with the teeth interlocked In testimony whereof Weaffix our signathe lever and shaft may be operated in unitures inpresence of two witnesses.

son to throw both mechanisms into action, ALEXUS C. LINDGREN. and withthe teeth disengaged the shaft may WILLARD J. COOK.

be operated independently of the lever to Witnesses:

throw the apron driving mechanism out of T. C. BLANDING,

action. JAMES J. LAMB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

